In my Time of Need
by kingszey
Summary: Laurel Jones has just started at Hogwarts as a sixth year Gryffindor, and she is already certain that she hates every fiber of Sirius Black's being. But dark forces are rising, and Laurel may find that she needs Sirius, and Sirius needs her more than ever.
1. Home Sweet Hogwarts

**Hi :3 I'm Zoe (don't ask me why my name is kingszey I really don't know) and this is my new fic! I'm a sucker for Marauder Era stories, especially when they're Sirius/OC, so I decided to attempt one of my own. Sorry if it sucks :/ R&R please, just to spare my feelings?**

* * *

Laurel took a shuddering breath and shuffled her feet nervously on the hard ground of platform nine and three-quarters. She had started plenty of new schools before, but none of those had required a train to get to, meaning that you had to make friends before classes even started. It was that or sit in the train's cramped toilets for the seven hour trip, which didn't sound appealing to her. With another deep breath, Laurel tried to make the naturally harsh look on her face appear kinder. If she was going to be approaching strangers, she may as well look like she wasn't about to hex them into next year.

She pushed her wavy brown hair of her face and looked at her watch. The train wouldn be leaving soon, but her feet seemed glued to the spot. Yes, just because she had had plenty of practise at starting a new school, it didn't mean that she liked it, or that she was in any way good at it. Bright green eyes glanced anxiously around. _What are you waiting for, Christmas? _She mentally scolded herself. _Get on the bloody train._

She sighed and began dragging her heavy trunk over to one of the train doors, her cat cage – complete with a sleeping cat – under one arm, grunting as she pulled it up the stairs and into the narrow corridor. _And where the hell am I going to sit?_

Laurel was starting her new school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Previously, she had been at Beauxbatons, before that she had a brief spell at Dragoniar Acadamy of Magic in Australia, before _that _a tiny witchcraft school in the hills of Germany… but she had started off her magical schooling five years ago in New Zealand, at the Zachias Bottemly School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And there she had spent the best two years of her life, before her muggle parents – who worked for an international dairy products company – began moving around the globe, taking her and her non-magical brother and sister with them.

As if being a Muggleborn didn't complicate things enough already.

It was because of these busy jobs that meant they had dropped her off outside Kings Cross, said a short goodbye then sped off in the family car. They were too busy to say goodbye to their daughter. Never mind the fact that they had constantly ruined her life by allowing her enough time to settle down before abruptly uprooting the family and dragging them to another country.

Hogwarts, however, seemed like a place where Laurel could finally be at home. The huge castle had been everything she – and probably everyone else – had dreamed of as a child; attending school there seemed like a dream come true. She had met breifly with the headmaster, Proffesor Dumbledore, in the holidays. He had shoved an old hat on her head, pronounced her a Gryffindor, assured her that she'd fit right in then ushered her out the huge oak doors before you could say 'Fizzing Whizbee'.

"Uh… are you alright? You're blocking the corridor." A voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Am I? I'm sorry, I didn't-" she stammered nervously, turning awkwardly to face the voice. She was met by a young man, around her age. "I'm just a bit confused," she admitted. "I'm new here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? You don't look like a first year."

"That's because I'm not! I'm starting my sixth year, I moved to England in the holidays and got sorted privately into Gryffindor… I'm Laurel Jones, by the way."

He smiled. "I'm Remus, Remus Lupin. I'm a sixth year Gryffindor too, so why don't you come with me and you can sit with my friends?"

She sagged in relief. "That would be great, thanks."

He very gentlemanly took her trunk and stode confidently down the narrow passage, Laurel hurrying after him and clutching her cat cage. After a short walk, Remus pulled open a compartment door with a flourish, and she stepped nervously into the small space.

Three other boys sprawled over the seats, chatting lazily and flicking their wands absentmindedly, filling the air with strange aromas and confetti. One of the boys – _very _handsome, with high cheekbones and dark hair that flopped across his face – looked up briefly. Then, seeing that his friend had company, scrambled into a sitting position.

"Who's this, Remus? First day back and you've already managed to hook a hottie!" he leaped to his feet and shook her hand enthusiastically. "The name's Sirius Black," he said, taking delight in the clear embarrasment that flushed across her face.

"Laurel Jones," she muttered, pulling her hand from his grasp.

"Take no notice of old Padfoot, he'll try to bed anything that moves," joked the boy sitting opposite Sirius. He ran a hand thorugh his already messy hair, making it even more so, then extended a hand. "James Potter, nice to meet you."

Laurel smiled at him, he was a lot less intimidating than the natural charm of Sirius. The third and final boy in the compartment leaped up from where he had been sitting on the floor. "Peter Pettigrew," he said in a small voice, ducking his head then sitting down hurriedly next to James.

The train started moving and they all settled into their seats. Laurel tried not to look dissapointed at the lack of femine energy in the group, and instead turned to the cage, where her cat had woken and was mewing loudly, pawing at the bars.

"Do you mind if I let my cat out?" she asked. "He's not violent at all." General consent was murmured, so Laurel unlatched the the lock and lifted out the black bundle of soft fur. "His name's Deisel." She added, setting him on the floor.

"Deisel? What sort of word is that?" asked James incredulously.

"Oh, it's a muggle thing," she said quickly. "And I got him when I was ten, before I knew… well, before I knew what I was."

"So you're a muggleborn then," broke in Sirius coolly. Laurel looked for any hostility in his gaze, but found only what seemed to be a permanent fixture. None of the boys seemed to be those pureblood fanatics that she had had the misfortune of meeting. She allowed herself to relax slightly – now that that was out in the open, maybe she'd be able to become friends with the group. She nodded in reply to him, trying her best not to look too defiant.

The compartment door slid open and two girls – one blonde, one red haired – stepped in, sliding it shut behind them. The boys leaped up again, faces lit up with welcome. "Lily, Alice!" They yelled, bounding forward to hug the girls. Laurel noticed with amusement that the redheaded one had to nudge James away from her as he attempted to hug her, looking uncomfortable. Disappointment clouded James' face, and he stepped back to let the others crowd around the two girls.

Once the initial greetings were over, both turned to Laurel, looking kind but puzzled. "And this is…?"

Remus jumped foward. "This is Laurel. She's new this year, and she's a sixth year Gryffindor too. I met her in the corridor before, looking lost. Laurel, this is Alice Fletcher," he gestured to the slim, pretty blonde, "And this is Lily Evans." He pointed to the beautiful redhead.

Alice laughed. "Thank Merlin! All the girls lurking in the corridor were glaring daggers at her, thinking she was Sirius' new girlfriend." She stuck her head into the passageway. "You can relax, they're not dating!" she announced. Some shrill murmurs could be heard, before Alice closed the door once more. Everyone in the compartment laughed heartily, including Luarel, and Sirius leaned back in his seat, looking completely unabashed.

"What can I say? They love me." He said with a smirk.

The trip flew by – with the help of many galleons worth of sweets from the cart – and they were pulling into Hogsmeade station. They left their trunks on the train and stepped out into the night air, shivering slightly at the sudden drop in temprature. Lily linked one of her arms through Laurel's, the other through Alice's, and they hurried to find a carriage.

Laurel stopped short as she saw the huge beast's harnessed to the carriages. Thestrals. She hated the creatures, and the way they brought back an onslaught of memories, things she didn't want to remember. But she couldn't stop the images now. She saw the woods, warm with a French spring night, the eyes that glowed from the darkness, the fangs that flashed. She felt Lucie's hand tighten around her forearm, saw the stark terror in her eyes. She heard the scream that froze her blood, and saw… saw everything. All over again.

"Laurel? Laurel!" Someone was shaking her shoulders and calling her name, bringing her back. Her eyes snapped open, focusing on Lily, who's face was an inch away from hers. Laurel leaped back, heart thudding in her chest. Lily gripped her arm, just where she had been sure Lucie had been a second earlier, making her nerves jitter again. Lily looked concerned, but simply said, "You can see them, can't you?"

Laurel nodded numbly, afraid that her two newfound friends would question her on it. But they simply exchanged a worried look, and took up positions either side of her, guiding her to a carriage. Once they were inside, and joined by the so-called 'Marauders', Laurel felt stupid at the way she had reacted. But the boys hadn't seen and Lily and Alice didn't mention it, and Laurel began to feel safe again.

A light drizzle had begun by the time they clambered up the steps and ducked into the castle. Laurel sniffed the air deeply. The mix of food smells wafting from the open doors to the Great Hall made her stomach rumble loudly. Sirius shot her an amused glance, and she ducked her head in embarrasment. Eagerly, she followed the group into the warmth of the hall.

Although Laurel had been sure she had smelled food, the tables were empty – but piled with plates, utensils, goblets and serving platters. She followed them over to the Gryffindor table and sat down, puzzledly trying to locate the source of the smell.

"The food won't appear until after the sorting," Sirius hissed in her ear, making her jump. Glaring at him for sneaking up on her, she took a seat between him and Lily, with Alice opposite her. Lily waved down a group of girls, who hurried over with welcoming smiles. They greeted one another, then Lily turned to Laurel.

"Laurel, this is Mia, Evelyn, Gemma, Sophie and Tamara." She gestured in turn to two brunette twins, a short blonde girl, a raven haired beauty and a pretty brunette. "Mia and Evelyn are Ravenclaws, Tamara is a Hufflepuff and Gemma and Sophie are both Gryffindors, with us. Girls, this is Laurel. She's new this year."

The five friends chorused warm greetings, including a huge hug from Gemma, who seemed to be the most forward of the group. They began to ask about eachother's holdidays, until Tamara pointed to where one of the teachers – "Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor," Lily hissed – was setting out a stool with the sorting hat on it. At this point, Evelyn, Mia and Tamara hurried off to their tables, and Sophie and Gemma took seats next to Alice. Slowly, the whole hall caught sight of the old, tattered hat, and one by one each table fell silent. A nervous group of first years huddled at the front of the hall. The brim of the hat suddenly opened into a mouth, and began to sing.

_Well, I may be just a hat_

_Old and falling apart_

_But a wise old hat I am_

_I was right from the start_

_When this great school was born_

_(And I saw it all)_

_Four leaders, young and bright_

_Until one did fall_

_Old Slytherin changed things_

_When he left in a huff_

_And things are still changing_

_They're changing, right enough_

_Darker times are coming_

_I can feel it in the air_

_I can feel it in the minds_

_Of those who put me on their hair_

_So forget your silly grudges_

_Forget your age old fued_

_For though I may be old_

_You'll find me to be shrewd_

_If you listen to what I say_

_You'll make it through alive_

_You must stand together_

_Alone you can't survive_

_Now lets move right on_

_To something of more cheer_

_Step right up, don't be afraid_

_The Sorting hat is here!_

A smattering of appluase followed the song, and Laurel frowned at it in confusion. Dark times? She tunred to Lily and hissed in her ear. "What does it mean, with all this talk of wars and dark times?" she whispered.

Lilt eyes widened. "Surely you've heard of… of He Who Must Not Be Named?" she whispered back. At Laurels nod, she continued, "Well he's making a bit more trouble than the international papers would have you believe. Of course, you living in France you wouldn't realise, but he's been getting up to quite a lot recently. Got himself some followers, called Death Eaters. And there's the killings. Wizarding families who refused to join him, or Muggles for sport…" she trailed off at Laurel's alarmed look.

_Killing Muggles for sport? _Laurel wondered how safe her family would be. She'd have to send them a letter first thing tomorrow morning.

"Asher, Gregory!" Professor McGonagall's voice broke into Laurel's thoughts, and she turned to watch the trembling first year slip the hat over his head.

"_Hufflepuff!"_ cheers erupted from the table on the far side of the hall, and Gregory Asher stumbled over to the table, smiling shakily as a few of his new house-mates clapped him on the back.

"Colbern, Monica!"

The second anxious first year sat down on the stool. The hat had onlt barely touched her head when it screamed out, "_Slytherin!"_

Hisses of congratulations broke out from the table next to Gryffindor, and Monica took her seat happily.

After the first Gryffindor – "Dejon, Jeffery!" – was sorted to their table, Laurel tuned out. She couldn't help but wish that she had gotten a sorting like this, as a first year. Having the whole school cheer for you seemed a lot more pleasant than simply appearing among her newfound house. Time ticked by, and her mouth watered at the delicious smells that were strengthening around the room.

At long last, "Westerly, Andrew!" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and McGonagall carried the stool and hat to the side of the hall. Dumbledore rose from his seat, looking magestic, his long silver beard shining in the light of the candles floating above them all. He beamed at them, spreading his arms out in a gesture of welcome.

"Welcome back to what I'm sure will be another magical year for you all!" He began. "All I ask is that you stay well away from the forbidden forest, it is called that for a reason." His peircing eyes flicked to the Marauders, who smirked. "A complete list of the school rules can be found on Mr Filtch's office door," he said, with a smile that said he knew no one would bother looking. "Now dig in!"

All of a sudden, the empty plates that had disappointed Laurel so much before were packed packed with all sorts of foods – roast lamb, chicken, sausages, yorkshire pudding, gravy, carrots… everything needed to make a delicious meal. Seeing everyone else dive eagely for the food, she wasted no time in stacking up her plate with everything within reach.

Sirius snorted in amusement. "Someone's hungry!"

She shrugged, unbothered. "You at Horwarts may not know the meaning of basic central heating, but you sure now how to put on a feast!" She bit into a sausage. "At Beauxbatons, I had a rule that I didn't eat anything I couldn't pronounce. I almost starved to death."

The table chuckled heartily, and from there on, Laurel was happy to sit back at listen to the conversation, letting everyone else do the talking. At last, after many courses, they were all full. Dumbledore stood up once more.

"Off to bed now, pip pip!" he called, clapping his hands.

The hall was filled with the scraping of benches against the hard floor, and Laurel followed Lily, Alice and the Marauders out of the halls, yawning tiredly. They climbed stairs and went through a maze of corridors until they came to a portrait of a woman in a fancy dress. Laurel knew immediately that she would get lost immediately in the monster of a castle.

"Password?" The lady asked.

"Dirigible," Sirius said in reply, and the portrait swung open to reveal a hole in the wall. Clambering in, Laurel looked around happily at the warm common room, which had many couches and armchairs, tables for homework and a big firepalce, complete with a roaring fire. Lily and Alice showed her up a spiralling staircase, then pushed open a heavy wooden door with a flourish.

"Welcome to your new room!" Alice announced excitedly.

Five four-poster beds stood in the long room, each with a chest of drawers and a nightstand beside them. Gemma and Sophie had occuied the first two, their trunks on their beds as they unpacked while chatting about their holidays. Lily and Alice bounded over to the next two, where their trunks lay in wait. Laurel approached the last one. it was by the window, which provided her with a nice view of the quidditch pitch. Her trunk lay on the luxurious duvet, and through the covers she could feel the warmth of a warming pan between the sheets. She smiled, feeling at home already.

They hurriedly unpacked, and the girls filled Laurel in on all the professors and where their classrooms were, as well as things about the grounds, Hogsmeade, and a warning about Filtch, the caretaker, and his nasty cat Mrs Norris. Then they crawled wearily into bed, tired out and looking forward to starting classes again tomorrow.

Desiel came and curled up under the covers next to Laurel, and his soft purring lulled her to sleep.

* * *

**Love it? Hate it? Want more? Please review!**


	2. The Ancient and Most Noble House of Prat

**Thank you so much to the people that reviewed last chapter :) This one's a little shorter bc I'm lazy and that's pretty much all thanks bye**

* * *

The next morning, the Great Hall was bustling with noise over breakfast as Laurel sat down between Alice and Remus, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

Owls screeched and flapped their wings overhead, swooping down to deliver letter's, while student's chatted amongst themselves. She heard a few arguments and mutinous comments between pupil's and their Head's of House over their option choices, but at the same time, everyone in the hall seemed to be wholeheartedly _happy _to be there.

Professor McGonagall hurried over to Lauren, a clipboard tucked under her arm. "Miss Jones, let's see…" She studied the board. "You're wanting to take Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Herbology and Transfiguration, yes?"

"Um, yes Professor." She answered.

The teacher gave her a small smile. "Well that all seems to be in order, then." She waved her wand at a blank timetable and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Laurel muttered, immediately comparing it to Lily's beside her. Lily was taking Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy and Defence Against the Dark Arts. "Looks like we have all the same classes! Except you're doing Arithmancy, can't imagine why…"

Lily laughed. "It's not that hard, really. Besides, it'll good for if I become a Healer, you know? And I've always wanted to do that." She looked at Laurel's classes. "You seem to be taking the subjects to be an Auror."

"Yeah, well, it'd be cool!" Laurel said defensively.

"Yeah, it would." Alice said reverently from down the table where she sat with Frank, her boyfriend.

"An Auror, Laurel?" James had heard their conversation, and he flung an arm around Sirius' shoulders. "That's where Padfoot and I are heading. Oh, and Lily," he turned his smile on her, "you'd be a great Healer. St Mungo's would be lucky to have you!"

Lily flushed, though with anger or embarrassment Laurel wasn't sure. She cast an exasperated glance at Laurel then stood up, cramming her timetable into her overflowing book bag. "Come on Laurel, Alice, we don't want to be late for Trasfiguration."

Neither of them bothered to point out that Transfiguration wouldn't start for a good ten minutes, laughing and following their friend from the Great Hall.

They found three seats together in the second row of the classroom. Lily had tried to convince them to sit in the front row, while Laurel and Alice had been all for the back of the classroom, so they had compromised. Slowly, the class filled up, the Marauders taking up the much-desired back row.

When Professor McGonagall swept into the classroom on the bell, Laurel almost rose from her chair before realising that no one else was. Back at Beuxbatons, they had always stood when a teacher entered the room – it was just common courtesy. Apparently, it wasn't as much at Hogwarts.

One hour of copying notes from the blackboard later, the trio hurried down to the dungeons for Potions. The Marauders caught up to them, joking and hexing eachother in their usual rambunctious manner. By the time they reached the Potions class, James had a pink streak in his hair that everyone was 'forgetting' to mention to him.

They settled down, spread out over two tables, as Professor Slughorn came in. Or rather, Slughorn's large belly came in, followed by the man himself. He waved his wand and a title appeared on the blackboard – _Defensive Potions._

Slughorn got them to gather around a small table at the front and dropped his voice. "Now, students, as I'm sure you're all aware, there have been some happenings outside of school that aren't completely, well, _good._"

Laurel shifted her feet uneasily, and saw a few others do the same. There was no way he was referring to anything other than You-Know-Who's Regime – she was suddenly glad that they didn't share this class with the Slytherins.

Slughorn carried on. "Other teachers may try to ignore it for now, keep you all sheltered, but sooner or later you will begin to notice changes in the curriculum, things that will equip you for fighting. Now, I would prefer to not be teaching you this, but, in the current climate…" he trailed off for effect, and a few people shivered.

"Now!" He boomed as he straightened causing Laurel to jump in alarm. "I have three examples of potions that may be useful to you in a war. Can anyone guess what the first is?"

He whipped the lid off a small silver cauldron with a flourish, and the class leaned forward to look inside it. It was a clear, thin liquid that was steaming slightly. It didn't give off an aroma and seemed to bear an exact resemblance to, well, water.

Lily wasn't fooled however, and her hand flew into the air.

"Miss Evans!" Slughorn cried, and it was clear that she was a favorite of his.

"It's Veritaserum, it makes the consumer tell the truth."

"Well done, ten points to Gryffindor!" He beamed. "Indeed, class, it is Veritaserum, a powerful potion that, when consumed, will make one speak the truth. For instance, if Potter here-" he pointed to James "- were under the influence of Veritaserum and I asked him why he had pink in his hair, he'd say-"

"Padfoot, you prat!" James yelled. At Slughorn's words he had looked at his reflection in the nearest cauldron. He shoved a laughing Sirius angrily and turned his hair back to black.

"Moving on!" Slughorn tried to get the class' attention again. "Veritaserum can be very useful when you are using it, but very dangerous when the enemy is. It is a very difficult potion, however, took me months…" He replaced the lid and moved on to the next one, a huge black cauldron. When he removed the lid, everyone recoiled slightly. This potion was greenish-grey, was bubbling rapidly and gave off a nasty smell.

Lily's had shot up again, cuffing Laurel's ear as it did. Laurel scowled at her friend but Lily seemed not to notice, so excited was she to answer the question.

"It's Polyjuice potion," she said rather breathlessly as she was called on.

"Yes, yes! Take another ten points, Miss Evans! Polyjuice potion is one to be very wary of in a war. Add a few strands of someone's hair, or a toenail, and you'll turn into them. So many good witches and wizards have let their enemies into their homes, thinking they were their friends, only to be turned upon and slaughtered." Slughorn tutted, shaking his head sadly.

He moved along the table and revealed the last cauldron. The potion inside was odourless and thin like the Veritaserum, but this time it was coloured a bright, warning red. Lauren felt that there was something _off, _something _wrong_ about this potion – and looking around at the uneasy faces of her classmates, she wasn't the only one.

Lily's hand stayed by her side, for once, so Slughorn explained it. "And this, students, is simply poison, one of the worst kinds there is. From the moment it touches you lips, there is not much a Healer can do to help. I would not have brewed it if I didn't want to show you, to warn you…" his voice had gone oddly soft, the classroom silent.

Professor Slughorn clapped his hands, bringing them all out of their reverie. "Now then, everyone take notes on what I've told you, and I want a three page essay on the discovery of Veritaserum by Wednesday."

* * *

Lunchtime brought some much needed food and rest, and afterward Lily, Laurel and Remus had a free period. Despite Laurel's encouragements that it was a nice day and they ought to go outside, Remus and Lily dragged her to the library.

"We've got a three page potions essay due on Wednesday," Lily hissed to her as they found a table in the quiet library, "and you never got the hang of transfiguring those chairs into boxes, so why don't you work on that?"

Giving in, Laurel dug some new parchment out of her bag and grabbed one of the books Lily had taken off the shelves. _A Historian's Guide to Potions._ She ran a finger down the index pages until she found Veritaserum. "Page 593. Merlin, this is a big book."

Lily shot her an unsympathetic glance and went back to scribbling on her own parchment. Laurel skimmed through the information on Veritaserum and began to write her essay, but try as she might she could not concentrate. She still had that sort of fuzzy-brain feeling you get after the holidays, and soon enough she began to doze off.

"Working hard, Jones?"

Sirius' voice made her head snap up, and as Laurel clumsily tried to compose herself, her sleeve knocked over her bottle of ink.

"Merlin, Sirius, was that really necessary?" She pouted, using her wand to clear the spilled ink off her feeble beginnings of an essay and back to its bottle.

"No need for that tone," James sniggered beside him, then saw Lily. "Oh, Lily. How's your essay going so far?" He beamed at her.

Lily tried to return the smile, only it looked for like a grimace. "Fine, thank you, Potter."

Remus shook his head slightly at James' eagerness, but there was a smile on his face. "Any reason for disrupting our vital studying time, you two? And where's Wormy?"

Sirius held up his hands. "Remus, please, one question at a time." He grinned to let his friend know that he was joking. "We're here because we're bored and you need to lighten up, and Peter's at Care of Magical Creatures."'

Laurel frowned, thinking of the wimpy, watery-eyes Peter Pettigrew. "Peter doesn't seem like an animal person," she said thoughtfully.

For some reason, the comment made the three present Marauders burst out into laughter. Laurel had just enough time to exchange a confused glance with Lily before Madam Pince came storming towards them.

"_Quiet! _Quiet in my library!" She hissed to them.

"Sorry, Madam Pince, I tried to tell them, honsestly." Sirius said innocently. "You see, Laurel's new here, I don't think she understands some of the rules."

The ancient woman turned her glare on Laurel who froze nervously. Behind Madam Pince, she could see Sirius giving her what would be a sympathetic glace if it weren't for the triumph in his eyes. The librarian kept up her glaring for a few seconds more, then hurried away again.

Laurel hit Sirius's shoulder with _A Historian's Guide to Potions. _"What the hell was that for?"

"Relax," Sirius rolled his eyes at her. "It was just a bit of fun."

Laurel turned grumpily back to her essay, giving him the cold shoulder. Truthfully, she knew that it was just a bit of fun, but she didn't want to be getting into trouble on her first day at Hogwarts. She heard James mutter something to Sirius and the two of them left, leaving the library as quiet and dull as it had been before.

* * *

After dinner, Alice, Lily and Laurel cleared some second years out of the armchairs by the fireplace in the common room and took them for themselves. Laurel smiled into the flames, happy with how the day had been. It looked like she'd feel right at home at Hogwarts, just like Dumbledore had promised her in the holidays.

"So, what are your thoughts on Hogwarts so far?" Alice asked her.

Laurel grinned at her and Lily. "Good. The professors seem nice, but they did give us an awful lot of homework. And the food is delicious!"

"And that's what's really important," Lily teased her. "What about the people?"

"Everyone seems pretty nice – apart from the Slytherins of course. But if you ask me, Sirius Black is a bit of an asshole."

Alice laughed. "We've been saying it for years, even though we're his friends. You'll get used to it in a while, it's just that he doesn't really have a filter on what he should and shouldn't say."

Laurel sniffed. "How unpleasant."

"Lighten up!" Alice encouraged her. "I mean, it's hardly his fault, when you think about his family…" She and Lily shared meaningful looks.

"His family?" She leaned forward, intrigued.

"The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black," Lily said, putting on a prissy, posh voice. "They're pureblood fanatics, practically Death Eaters. They've all been in Slytherin – well, all except for Sirius – and his younger brother, Regulus, is there now."

Alice nodded. "They treated him terribly, we could tell. Even before he was sorted he didn't agree with their ways, and they punished him for it. Only last summer, he escaped. He packed his trunk and left, and now he lives with James and the Potter's."

"The moral of the story is – Sirius comes from a family of prats," Lily summed up.

"Oh." Laurel sat back in her seat, shocked. Perhaps she had been a little _too _rude to him in the library. _A Historian's Guide to Potions _hadn't been a small book, it must have hurt… "Maybe I should apologise to him," she said abruptly, "you know, for hitting him with a book and whatever."

"Don't." Alice grabbed her arm. "Believe me, an apology from you would only inflate his gigantic ego."

Lily laughed, then narrowed her eyes at Laurel. "You know what? This could be very fun to watch."

"What could?" Laurel asked, not getting it.

"Well, you, me and Alice are practically the only girls in the school that aren't completely infatuated with him. He's used to me and Alice, because we're his friends, but you…" Now Alice was grinning wildly, and Laurel stared at them both, uncertain.

Alice echoed Lily. "This will be very, _very _fun."


	3. A Sirius Fan Club

**Hi :3 thanks again to reviewers, it means a lot! here's the next installment :)**

* * *

The weather turned cold quickly, and Laurel found herself waking up one morning with the sudden realisation that it was autumn rather than feeling the summer slip away. Along with the change in weather came a piece of paper pinned up in the Gryffindor common room – there was to be a Hogsmeade trip the coming weekend.

Laurel was awoken by a weight landing on her stomach, winding her. "Lily!" She gasped, shoving her friend off her. "What was that for?"

Lily giggled unashamedly while Alice burst out laughing behind her. Even Sophie and Gemma, by the door, were chuckling.

"I was _trying _to wake you up gently, I honestly was," Lily protested, "only Diesel seemed to take it upon himself to protect you from being woken up, and, well, I fell onto you."

Even Laurel had to laugh, imagining the scene and the likely look of surprise on her face as she had woken up. She grabbed the ruffled Diesel off the floor and placed him on her lap, stroking his ears. "Good boy, Diesel," She crooned, and Lily rolled her eyes.

They wrapped up warmly and bounded down into the common room, which was buzzing with energy. The only people who didn't seem happy were the first and second years, who sulked in the corners together in jealousy.

A harsh wind struck up as they made their way down the road to Hogsmeade, and they were all shivering by the time they got to the lively town. Alice dragged them into the Three Broomsticks and ushered them towards a table in the corner of the crowded bar, while she stayed behind to order their drinks.

"Have you ever tried Butterbeer before, Laurel?" Lily asked as Alice carried three towards them. "I hear it's a mainly British drink."

"No, I haven't," she replied, studying the warm, frothy drink Alice handed her with interest. She raised the glass to her lips and took a long drink. "It's good!" She remarked, grinning at them.

Both of them had pursed their lips as if they were struggling not to laugh at something, and Laurel bit her lip nervously. "What's up with you two? Do I have something on my fa-"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Jones, but I preferred you without the moustache." Sirius Black's voice came from a few metres away, where the Marauders stood laughing.

Seeing the smirk on his face, Laurel scowled and wiped her sleeve across her upper lip, getting rid of the froth that had stuck there. Despite hearing all about Sirius' family struggles, Laurel failed to feel sorry for him, or even remotely friendly towards him. In her mind, just because he was all abandoned and misunderstood didn't mean that he could act like a prat and get away with it.

The Marauders joined them at the table, Peter carrying Butterbeer over for them. With all seven of them in the small booth, Laurel found herself squashed between Sirius and the wall. She sighed. _Just my luck._

The conversation flitted back and forth between homework (Lily) and who needed tutoring for Transfiguration from Lily (James) and who was feeling sick that week (Remus) and who else thought that Mary McKinnon looked hot today (it was just Sirius). After a while, Laurel even got used to the feeling of Sirius pressed against her on one side, and actually decided it was quite comfortable.

They finished their drinks and wandered around Hogsmeade for a while, laughing when Lily had to slap James' hand as he tried to hold hers. Frank Longbottom bounded over with a few of his Ravenclaw friends, and they all tagged along to trudge back to the castle as a thin rain began to fall. Laurel sped up to walk beside one of the Ravenclaw boys, trying not to shiver. She failed, however, and he noticed.

"Here," he said immediately, taking off his scarf and looping it around her neck. "If you shake much harder you're going to fall off the street, and I don't want that on my hands."

Laurel laughed. "You have such a way with words," she joked, pulling his scarf tighter around her. "I'm sorry but, what's your name? I don't think we've really talked before."

"Chris Boot," he introduced himself, holding out a hand to shake.

She took it. "Laurel Jones," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, I know," he answered, and Laurel shot him a curious glance. He blushed and explained, "You're the new girl, and apparently you've been causing quite a stir among the Sirius Black Fan Cub."

She snorted. "You mean those fourth and fifth years that follow him everywhere? I didn't realise that had a name."

"I don't think they realise it either."

Laurel grinned. "So, explain to me why I've become an object of interest to these delightful young people?"

Chris gave her a lopsided grin. "Why, it's because you're the only emotionally single girl who hangs around Black, and they're worried there might be a little bit of more-than-friends going on behind closed doors."

"Lily's single, and she hangs out with him," Laurel pointed out.

"But everyone knows that she's secretly dying to say yes to Potter," he countered, and Laurel shrugged. It was true.

"You seem know a lot about the happenings at the Sirius Black Fan Club meetings. You wouldn't happen to be an honorary male member, would you?" Laurel teased.

He grimaced. "Not me, my little sister Rosemary, who's in her fourth year. And believe me, there are already male members, they're just a little less, er, _open_ about their undying love for Black."

"Who's got an undying love for me?" Sirius had caught up to the two of them in time to hear the last of their conversation. "Well, you know, who _else_, other than the normal?"

Laurel raised an eyebrow at him. "And who is 'the normal'?"

Sirius seemed to consider this. "Well, everyone. Anyway, tell me who you were talking about!"

Chris broke in. "We were talking about your fan club."

"Oh, that." Sirius smiled proudly, a purposeful faraway look in his eyes. "Say, Boot, didn't your sister sign up to the mailing list this year? Maybe it'll become a family affair, and you can join in, too."

"Do they actually have a mailing list?" Laurel asked, frowning.

Sirius grinned cheekily. "Not yet, but I'm going to put my best man onto it." He clapped Chris on the back then raced away to catch up to Peter, laughing like a madman.

"He is… impossible," She muttered, staring after him.

Chris chuckled and shook his head. By now, they were approaching the oak front doors of the castle, where students were slowly trickling in from their Hogsmeade trips. They came to a stop in the entrance hall, dripping wet and icy cold. Laurel took off his scarf and handed it to him, clearing her throat awkwardly.

"Well, thanks for lending that to me, it made the walk back a lot more enjoyable for me," Laurel said.

"As did your company for me," Chris replied with another warm smile.

Laurel laughed slightly at his obvious flirt. "I'll see you around, then." She said, turning around to make her way up the stairs.

"Wait." His hand flew out and caught her wrist, making her turn back to him. "Maybe next Hogsmeade weekend, you can come with me? It won't be so crowded then, without Black and his ego."

Laurel pursed her lips against the laugh bubbling within her. "I'd like that," she answered happily, then raced up the stairs with a soaring heart.

She was still grinning like an idiot when she burst into the common room, where Lily, Alice and the Marauders where drying off in front of the fire. They looked up as Laurel dropped ungracefully onto the hearth rug beside them, beaming around at the group and pulling off her sodden jacket and shaking out her bedraggled hair.

"Hi," she said brightly to Lily and Alice, slightly breathless still.

"Where were you?" Alice asked immediately, scrutinising her face closely.

"Well-" Laurel began, but a cold voice interrupted her.

"She's been with Chris Boot, that's where she's been," Said Sirius, looking straight at her, unblinking. "He wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her next time, and she said yes."

"I- so what if he did? How did you know, anyway? Spying on me?" Laurel retorted angrily, her happiness evaporating like dew.

"Spying on you? Please, Jones, I saw it in your eyes." His voice was full of contempt. "I can read you like a book, _darling._"

She got to her feet, eyes blazing, and grabbed her jacket. "Well, maybe you ought to stop reading, _sweetheart, _because what I do is none of your business!"

And with that she stormed off to her common room, Sirius staring after her blankly.

* * *

Sirius stared after Laurel, who raced up the stairs to her dormitory, then turned back to the group by the fireside. He cleared his throat, expecting someone to say how awkward the situation was, or ask what was up with Laurel, but they all seemed to just be staring at him, silent.

"Well, uh, what were we talking about before?" He asked politely. "Oh, that's right, Prongs was-"

"Sirius." Remus said seriously, interrupting him. "What the hell was that?" His friend, who always looks disapproving for some reason or another, seemed especially upset.

"I- what do you mean?" he looked around the group, who were all looking at him as though he'd sprouted rabbit ears. "What?"

Lily just shook her head slowly. "That was unnecessary."

His jaw dropped. "Oh, _come on._ You're not going to pull a Laurel on me, are you?" He smiled feebly at his friends, but no one smiled back at him. He snorted. "Fine then, I'll see you all in the morning."

Then he followed Laurel's footsteps and stormed away, leaving the quiet group behind him.

* * *

By breakfast the next morning Laurel had not stopped being angry at Sirius, just as she knew he had not started being apologetic. When she emerged from her dormitory and made her way to the Great Hall, half of her was hoping that she'd meet Black on the way so she could hex the hell out of him.

A few seconds later she got her wish as she threw back the tapestry that hid one of the passageways needed to get to the Great Hall and collided with his chest. He stumbled, back, surprised, as she whipped out her wand and pressed it against his neck threateningly, pushing him against the wall.

"Uh, Jones?" Sirius said nervously, looking around in the hope that someone would come and rescue him.

"Honestly, Black, you are pathetic. Poking your nose into other people's business just because you think everyone loves you enough to get away with it. I bet you're just like the rest of them." Laurel snarled in his face.

"I- the rest of who?"

"The rest of your Death Eater family, that's who! You pretend to be so misunderstood and badass because you're defying your parents but you are _just like them._ You think you're better than everyone, don't you?" Her eyes were blazing with anger, and Sirius started looking scared.

"I'm not like my family," he answered hoarsely, pushing her off him, and pulling his on wand out and turning it on her. Now they stood about a metre apart, wands aimed at each other's chests.

Laurel curled her lip. "I wouldn't count on it. Once a Black, always a Black. You'll never stop being a Black."

"_That's not true!" _He yelled back at her, and just as he was about to curse her into next year, the tapestry was thrown aside again and a fourth year came into the passageway. His eyes widened as he spotted the two sixth years glaring at him with their wands drawn, and he backed away breathlessly.

"I'll go another way, then." He squeaked, and raced off.

The interruption had been enough to calm both Laurel and Sirius down, and they pocketed their wands slightly sheepishly. Laurel held his gaze for a moment, before they both turned away.

"Just, stay out of my way, Black, and I mean that," she muttered and stalked off, trying not to tremble under the weight of her fury.


	4. Marauders and Mistletoe

**Hello again, sorry for the (very) late update! Quick warning: updates will be slightly less frequent over the next month as it is now November, meaning that 1) NaNoWriMo has started and I've decided to take part this year and 2) end of year exams are in a week and I'd really like to not fail :)**

**Please keep reviewing, it means a lot!**

* * *

Between the enormous amounts of homework thrown at her and the growing worry over the trouble the Death Eaters were making, Laurel barely noticed that December the twenty fifth was approaching until a sign-up sheet for students who wanted to stay at the castle over the holidays was shoved under her nose at breakfast one morning. She scanned over the names of students already on the list. Lily was there, as well as Remus and Sirius. Deciding that she could put up with Sirius for at least a week, she hurried to add her own name to the list. Celebrating Christmas at Hogwarts seemed like an occasion not to be missed.

The term finished a couple of days before Christmas, and the teachers seemed to be getting into the spirit of giving by piling even more homework on them. The castle emptied as most of the students went home to their families, leaving the common room free and quiet. Laurel sank down next to the fire with Lily, exhausted.

"I have about five _million _essays to hand in on the first day back, you know." She whined, rolling onto her stomach on the hearth rug. "And old Slughorn promised us a pop quiz to 'get us back into learning habits after the holidays'. Can you believe it?"

Lily looked up from the thick book she was reading. "Then you'd better get started!" she told her, throwing a quill and some fresh parchment toward her.

Laurel stared at her friend, aghast. "Lily, school has just finished. Don't you want at least a few hours to just _relax_?"

"No." Lily appeared unfazed.

"Lily's right," Remus had clambered through the portrait hole, with Sirius in tow, and was looking at Laurel seriously. "Now is no time to be slacking off, just because it's the holidays."

"Yes, Professor Lupin," Laurel muttered, and she and Sirius shared almost identical bored gazes – so similar that it felt for a second as though they were friends. But only for a second.

Remus joined Lily by the fire and pulled out an equally big book and stared reading silently. Laurel and Sirius sat awkwardly beside them for a while, silence thick in the air around them.

Sirius got abruptly to his feet and looked at her. "Unless you'd rather stay with these two, fancy going for a walk of the grounds with me?" he asked, his face blank.

Laurel stared at him suspiciously, her eyes narrowed. "But I don't even like-" she stared to voice her dislike for him, but stopped herself. _Now is not the time._

"Me?" Sirius guessed, raising an eyebrow. "Surely it's better than sitting here twiddling your thumbs?"

Laurel shrugged, knowing he had a point, and followed him from the room. They walked in silence through the castle, only looking at each other once – as they passed through the passageway in which they had almost started duelling a few months ago, they exchanged a slightly guilty glance. Only when they were out of the castle and in the cold, blustery grounds did either of them speak.

"So… Boot went home for Christmas?" Sirius asked neutrally, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked. Laurel looked for any hostility in his eyes but saw only polite curiosity.

"Yeah… his family was having a Christmas ball sort of thing… otherwise he would have stayed." Laurel told him, pulling her winter cloak tighter around herself. "Well, that's what he said, anyway."

He looked up at the sky. "Looks like it'll snow soon enough." She followed his gaze to the heavy, grey-bellied clouds above.

"Really?" She replied, but only so that she had something to say.

"Yeah, I reckon." He nodded. "Are you looking forward to Christmas at Hogwarts?"

She smiled in spite of her continuous dislike of him. "Yeah. I mean, I've heard so much about it. The decorations especially."

He nodded. "The decorations _are_ pretty spectacular, but it's the food that blew me away the first time I spent Christmas here. You haven't _lived _until you've tried the jam tarts the elves rustle up for desert. Honestly, you'll never spend another Christmas at home after you've had one." He put on a purposely wistful face and stared out over the trees of the Forbidden forest.

Laurel laughed and nudged him playfully. "When was the last time you went home over Christmas?"

Was it her imagination, or did Sirius' face darken slightly? When he spoke, something had certainly changed in his voice. "Fifth year. I had been suspended a few days before for, uh, playing a prank on old Snivellus, so I was sent home a few days early." He confessed. "My parents were away on business, and they didn't come back until the time that I would normally be home anyway. I had kind of hoped that I could keep it a secret and just pretend that I had chosen to spend Christmas with my family instead. That didn't work for three reasons."

She stared at him, hardly expecting such a lengthy answer. "What were the three reasons?" She asked finally.

"Firstly, I hate my family and everyone knows it. Secondly, the school sent them a letter. Lastly, Regulus would do anything to get my mother's attention and decided to grass." He shrugged. "So a fight broke out. Mum kept telling me I was ruining the family name, I kept telling her that I was so sick of being a part of this family and that I really didn't care. Then I shouted out that I would never be a Black again, grabbed my trunk, and left."

"Oh," Laurel said softly, hating the sympathy that was rising thick and fast within her. "Where did you go?"

He shot her a sidelong look. "Where do you think I went? James' place, of course. You know, if Lily understood what that guy did for me, I don't think she'd ever reject him again. We'd been fighting you see, because I went way, _way _too far on the prank that got me suspended. He'd been refusing my letters, keeping his distance. Then I turn up at two in the morning, soaked through and muddy, babbling about how I'd gone and done it this time, I'd left and I wasn't going back. And it didn't even matter that we weren't talking, because when he saw me there, he took me in, gave me some dry clothes, and helped me badmouth my family for four hours on Christmas morning. And when his dad came down in the morning, he just looked him in the eyes and said; 'Dad, Padfoot is going to live with us now'. And that was that. No fuss, no fighting."

Laurel found herself feeling a strange sort of affection for Potter, who really did sound like a good and loyal friend, despite his enormous ego and bad pick-up lines. "So, James' dad… how did he react to this?" Now that Sirius was talking freely, she wanted to know more.

A huge grin spread over Sirius' handsome features. "He just looked at James, then at me, then said that if he'd known I was coming he would have brought some extra Christmas presents, and would I prefer coffee or tea with my eggs? Best man I've ever met, he is."

"Sounds like it." Laurel murmured.

They continued on in silence for another long while. By now, they were skirting the edge of the lake. She barely even noticed the wind coming at her anymore, even though it was so strong it threatened to blow her over.

"What about you?" Sirius asked her eventually. "You said you went to Beauxbatons before you moved here, what was that like?"

Laurel cocked her head to the side and considered the question. "It was… different. About as different from Hogwarts as you can get. It was stricter, there were no houses… and, you know, most people spoke French."

He laughed that barking laugh of his. "Do you speak French?"

She shook her head. "No, I had this friend called Lucie. She spoke both English and French, so she helped me with lessons and, well, interacting with people."

"That's nice. Do you still keep in touch with her?"

"I-" Laurel was at a complete loss for words. "She died." She said finally.

Sirius hadn't been expecting that. He stopped short. "I'm so sorry. If you don't mind me asking, how… how did it happen?"

She squeezed her eyes shut briefly. She hadn't really talked to anyone about this, other than Lucie's family, because they had needed to know the truth about why their daughter had so abruptly been torn from their world. "It was summer, the last day of school before the holidays. I knew I was moving over here, so we were going to have a picnic in the woods near the school. You know, something special for our last day. We- we stayed out later than we should have, even though we knew that the woods become dangerous at night. We were on our way back when suddenly – and I'm not quite sure how it happened – but we were surrounded. A pack of wolves had found our scent."

Sirius furrowed his brow. "Werewolves? Or wolves?"

"Just normal wolves," Laurel said, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and attempted to carry on – if Sirius had confided in her, she could damn well do the same. "I'm not sure why they decided to hurt her more than me. I'm not sure about a lot of the things that happened that night. All I really remember is Lucie gripping my arm as if she needed me to help her, but all I could do was stand there. Stand there and scream. Next thing you know, the wolves are gone and she's just lying on the ground, and I'm lying beside her. Part of me knew she was dead, just as part of me wondered if _I _were dead, because I couldn't feel anything. Then I guess I blacked out, because I woke up in hospital three days later."

Sirius didn't speak for a long time, then he turned to her. "Did they hurt you? Like, badly, enough to leave a scar?"

Laurel hesitated before pulling down the neck of her sweater to bare her shoulder, despite the cold, to display the jagged white scar, about four inches in length, which stretched across the pale skin on her shoulder. She felt oddly exposed as she was, especially as he slowly reached out a thumb to trace it. She shivered, but she was not sure if it was because of the cold, Sirius' touch, or the dark look in his eyes.

He stepped back suddenly and stared up at the threatening clouds. Carefully, he began to speak. "They always leave scars. The people we love, they always scar us. Not just because they leave, but because they know us. They know how to hurt us." And then, as if just to fill the gaping silence between them, he repeated; "Looks like it'll snow soon enough."

"Really?" She replied, but only because she could not begin to think of an answer to his statement.

"Yeah, I reckon."

* * *

"LaurelLaurelLaurelLaurelgetu pgetupgetup!" A voice seemed to be screeching in her ear.

Laurel rolled over with a groan and opened her eyes to find Lily's excited face an inch from hers. She squealed as Laurel woke up and threw her arms around her. "Merry Christmas!"

Laurel laughed and hugged Lily back, then sat up to survey the presents at the foot of her bed. Lily threw her a brightly wrapped package. On it, her name and a short Christmas message was scrawled in Lily's neat writing. She ripped the paper off eagerly and pulled out her present.

It was a book – no surprises there – with a pink cover and silver writing. Laurel raised her eyebrows at the title, _Chemistry. _She knew from her brother and sister that chemistry was a muggle science sort of like potions. Lily caught her unimpressed look and encouraged her to open it. Doing so, Laurel laughed, realising that the title referred to chemistry in relationships – it was a book written to be like a bible to a teenage girl.

"Thanks, Lil," she said, hugging her friend. "Open mine now!"

Lily opened her present from Laurel – a nail polish that changed colour according to your mood – and the two carried on opening their own presents. Laurel felt like she had gotten a good haul – a pretty silver necklace from her sister and brother, a study guide from Remus (she felt that he had been joking when buying it for her), a jewellery box from Alice, a box of assorted sweets from Chris and a bunch of Zonko's products from James and Peter. Her parents had sent her a green collar for Diesel, some spending money for Hogsmeade trips, a red woollen jumper and some books.

She pulled on the red jumper and sat back in her bed, opening a packet of Every Flavour Beans. Lily was leafing through a book that Remus had given her, smiling to herself and humming a muggle Christmas tune under her breath. It was then that Laurel noticed one last present on her bed, wrapped in brown paper and bearing her name. She pulled the paper off and stared in confusion at the item in her hands.

It was a snowglobe, but definitely not a muggle one. The figure in this one moved. She had long brown hair and, though she was tiny, Laurel could see bright green eyes. She was dancing in the snow that swirled around her, her Gryffindor school robes swishing around her. Her top had slipped down over one shoulder just enough to reveal a little line of jagged white, and Laurel's arm subconsciously travelled up to touch her own shoulder.

She searched the wrapping paper for a name, though something told her she already knew who it was from. Sure enough, as she turned the snowglobe over, the bottom had a small message on it.

_Laurel,_

_Please don't let yourself be hurt by your scars. Honestly, you're worth more._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Sirius._

Laurel stared at the little her twirling in the snow for another few seconds, then placed it carefully on her nightstand. Overwhelming guilt washed over her – she had given presents to the other three Marauders, but she had assumed that, since she and Sirius were not on speaking terms, they wouldn't be exchanging gifts.

She and Lily got dressed properly and bounded down into the common room. They clambered out of the portrait hole and made their way noisily to the Great Hall for breakfast. Laurel frowned as she caught a gleam of silver on Lily's wrist, and her hand reached out and grabbed her friends arm. It seemed that one of Lily's new Christmas presents had been a delicate silver bracelet with little lilies on it.

"That's nice Lily, who gave it to you?" She asked.

Lily glanced around, a strange look on her face. "Uh, Potter did." She admitted. "I mean, just because I'm wearing it, doesn't mean I'm going to go _out _with him or something, it's just a nice thing for him to do, and it _is _really pretty…" She trailed off.

Laurel grinned at her. "There's something to be said about a guy who gets rejected by you for three years but still takes the trouble to buy you something like _that _at Christmas."

"I- what do you mean?" Lily asked, stricken.

She shrugged. "Nothing," she told her, deciding that if Lily was really blind to the fact that she was dying to say yes to James, then Laurel wasn't going to be the one to explain it to her.

The entered the Great Hall a few minutes later, and Laurel gazed around in wonderment at the decorations. Twelve great Christmas trees stood proudly, and wreaths and streamers adorned the walls. The enchanted ceiling showed that it was snowing, but the flakes seemed to disappear before they could land on the table below. The house tables had been replaced by one long table, where assorted students and teachers were eating. Lily dragged Laurel over to where Remus and Sirius were waving to them.

"Merry Christmas!" Remus' greeting was muffled by the food in his mouth as they sat down opposite them.

She began loading food onto her plate, her mouth watering. This feast was unlike any other she had attended at Hogwarts, even the Halloween one.

Lily eyed the food on Laurel's plate uncertainly. "You… got enough food there?" She asked.

Laurel grinned at her. "Nah, I'm saving myself for desert. I've heard the jam tart is simply to die for."

Sirius shot her something that might have been a smile, then said; "By the way, Jones, it might seem my present got lost in the mail. Surely you wouldn't get Moony something and not me?"

Laurel stared at the turkey on her plate guiltily, and mumbled an apology. "But, uh, thanks for the present. I- I really appreciate it. I mean, it must have cost you a fortune!"

If it were possible for a Black to feel anything close to abashed, Sirius almost look embarrassed. "It was nothing, honestly."

Lily and Remus looked curiously between the two of them, but shrugged and turned back to their food. The meal went on, and by the time Laurel had moved on to the jam tart, Dumbledore was donning a black beehive wig and Slughorn was stumbling drunkenly out of his chair. She sat back in her seat contentedly and listened to the conversation around her.

Sirius was looking serious as he turned to Lily. "You should probably write to James, you know, what with the bracelet and stuff. He'd really appreciate it."

Lily seemed to struggle with herself for a moment. "Alright," she said eventually, and hurried off to the Owlery, looking rather nervous.

Laurel got to her feet and made her way into the entrance hall, ascending the great staircase. Just as she got to the top stair, she heard Sirius call out behind her and paused, waiting for him to catch up to her. "Where's Remus?" She asked as he reached her.

"Old Sluggy caught up to him and started complimenting his Potions essay. He got quite emotional, actually, I don't think Moony'll be done for a while." Sirius said with a laugh.

"Why do you call him Moony?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "I'm not sure, really. It's just been that way since our first year, and there's no point in changing it now."

She laughed as they came – once again – to the passageway where she and him had originally started fighting. "Remember the time that we almost killed each other in here?" she joked.

He shook his head wistfully. "Those were the days, weren't they, Jones?" he threw an arm casually around her shoulders. Suddenly, he looked up then back to her again. "Uh…" he pointed to the ceiling.

She followed his gaze to the sprig of mistletoe that had appeared over their heads and stepped away from him awkwardly. "Did you do that?"

"I thought it was you."

They stared at each other for a long while, and Laurel's heart raced. Slowly, deliberately, Sirius leaned in towards her. His lips brushed hers lightly, then all of a sudden they were crashing down on her, and his arms snaked their way around her waist. Without really giving it much thought she parted her lips and let him in, her fingers tangling themselves into his hair. When they finally parted she was pressed between his body and the wall and they were both breathing heavily.

Sirius stepped back, giving her a half-smirk. "Merry Christmas, Jones."


	5. A Full Moon Plus February Fourteenth

**HI I am so so sorry for the late update! Exams have been and gone (I didn't even do too badly) but I'm still working overtime on NaNoWriMo, which means plenty of caffeine and hitting my face against the keyboard :) I'm a bit behind wordcount-wise, but I plan on making up for that over the weekend!**

**Anyway, please keep reviewing!**

* * *

The hype over Christmas died down as school resumed and things fell back to the way they ought to be. Sirius and Laurel barely spoke, Lily refused James for the hundredth time, more and more homework piled up on Laurel's nightstand and the temperature dropped way down during January.

Yet under the surface, things were still very much unsettled. Sirius and Laurel barely spoke because they refused to acknowledge that they had kissed under the mistletoe. Lily refused James but wore his bracelet every day and was marginally more polite to him. The homework on the nightstand reminded her that she ought to be studying for her exams soon. And while the rest of the world pretended that everything was fine, reports of Death Eaters attacking muggles and muggle-borns began to reach the ears of the students of Hogwarts.

Laurel thought about this as she scrutinised the Daily Prophet over Lily's shoulder at breakfast one morning. It contained none of the rumours of recent deaths that had circulated the castle's corridors as of late, and she wondered if the Prophet was being paid to keep these things out of the spotlight. When she voiced the idea to Lily, she agreed with her.

"The Ministry doesn't want these things getting out. It'd inspire fear, make people doubt them," she explained, folding up the newspaper with a sigh.

Laurel shook her head. "Disgusting," she muttered.

"What's disgusting?" Chris had wandered over from the Ravenclaw table and dropped into the seat beside her, pecking her lightly on the cheek. She caught Sirius' eye from where he sat further down the table and blushed, looking away. She didn't need to be reminded that she had, technically, cheated on Chris over the break.

"You're disgusting," she teased him lightly, poking him in the chest playfully.

"I'll tell you what's disgusting, you two acting all adorable and affectionate in front of everyone," James chipped in, joining Lily at the table and swiping a piece of toast from Laurel's plate. Lily laughed at his joke, taking everyone aback. James flushed with happiness as she did, his eyes going to the bracelet still on her wrist.

Laurel ignored James and closed her _Standard Book of Spells, _which she had propped up against a milk jug. The massive workload and forced all the sixth years to adopt Lily-like attitudes to school and homework, and they were all feeling tired and strained. Shoving the book into her near-bursting book bag, she got to her feet and grabbed Chris' hand.

"C'mon, it's time for Charms." She told him, attempting to pull him to his feet but failing.

He groaned and grabbed him own bag, giving in and allowing Laurel to drag him off. As they made their way from the Great Hall, she wondered if it was Sirius' eyes she could feel burning into her back.

January melted into February in a blur of more work and the occasional Hogsmeade weekend, spent more often than not with Chris, and Laurel found herself waking up in his Ravenclaw dormitory on the day after these trips leaving her to sneak out early in the morning and back into her own dormitory. It was about this time that Alice started sharing her views on Remus with the rest of them, though she told them she had harboured suspicions about him for a long time. It started one Friday night in their dormitory.

Alice flopped onto her bed and sighed loudly. Laurel soon did the same on her own bed, and Lily looked between the two of them in frustration.

"You can't just stop studying now! It's getting so much more important, with the exams coming up in a few months." She protested, her red hair sweeping over her face as she stared down at them.

"But we're _tired,_" Alice whined, rolling over on her bed.

Lily pouted and sat down on her own bed, crossing her arms defiantly. There was silence for a while and Lily sulked, Alice stared out the window, and Laurel peered pensively at her snowglobe, the figure in which was still twirling tirelessly.

Alice suddenly sat up in her bed and rushed over to the window, causing the other two girls in the room to look at her curiously. She was staring out the window thoughtfully, and Lily and Laurel wandered over to see what she was looking at. Two figures were hurrying across the dark lawn, towards the whomping willow.

"Are they intruders?" Lily asked nervously.

"No," Alice replied. "It's Remus and Madam Pomfrey."

Laurel frowned. "What are they doing?"

"Well…" She sat down on her bed and looked up at her friends uncertainly. "I have a theory about this, and please don't be mad…" Lily and Laurel exchanged a glance. "But, well, I've seen this happening every month for a while. At sundown on the night of the full moon, Madam Pomfrey takes him away somewhere."

Laurel's jaw dropped. "You can't be saying… he's not…"

Alice looked beseechingly between them. "Think about it! The Marauders call him Moony… and the day after the full moon he's always in the hospital wing."

Laurel and Lily took a seat on Lily's bed, facing Alice. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but they thought that Alice was right. There was a heavy silence between them for a few minutes until Lily got to her feet, a frown on her face and steely determination in her eyes.

"I think we ought to have a little chat with the Marauders about this, don't you?"

* * *

It wasn't until a week later that they decided to approach Remus and the others with their suspicions. This was mainly because, if their suspicions were right and he was a werewolf, they wanted to give him a while to recover from the effects of the full moon.

The three girls managed to corner the Marauders one evening in the common room, while they were studying. Lily had tried to convince them to do it later, because, as she pointed out, the sight of all four of them studying was such a rare sight that perhaps they ought not to disturb it. They went on resolutely, however, pulling up nearby chairs and facing them grimly.

Sirius let out an exaggerated sigh and put his quill down slowly, leaning back in his chair. "Can't a guy get five seconds of rest to study around here?"

"No." Alice told him rather rudely, then took a deep breath. "There's something that we'd like to talk to you about – all of you."

The others all set down their quills too, curiosity getting the better of them. Lily, Laurel and Alice all exchanged looks, neither of them wanting to be the one who said it.

"Remus, we think you're a werewolf!" Lily suddenly burst out, and the other two girls shot her annoyed glances, for they had wanted to approach the subject more delicately. Giving them an apologetic look, she rushed on, "We just had some suspicions and we thought we'd better ask, we're probably wrong though, so, um, we'll just leave…" She cut off her babbling and blushed furiously.

A look of fear had dawned on Remus' face, and he looked from Sirius, to James, to Peter as though begging them to help him out. James was the first to leap to his defense.

"Yeah, well, so what if he is?" James said defiantly. "He's not hurting anyone, you know, it's completely safe. And really, Lily and Laurel, I thought you'd be a bit sympathetic. Surely you're used to being treated differently because of your blood status? How is this any worse?"

Sirius nodded, and Peter muttered a quiet 'yeah' while Remus stared at his homework as though it had nothing to do with him.

Alice spoke up. "Look, Remus, we don't care! We just wanted to know if it was true or not, it doesn't change the fact that you're our friend." She encouraged him.

Lily nodded and placed her hand on his arm softly. "We'll always be your friends, Remus."

Now all eyes of the group turned onto Laurel, expecting her to make the same pledge of friendship and indifference to Remus. She opened her mouth and tried, but the words dried in her throat as she thought of Lucie, and how she had been killed by wolves. She shot a pleading glance at Sirius, wanting him to understand why she was hesitant.

Sirius flushed with anger. "Come on, Jones. You can't be serious?"

"I- well-" she struggled to find the right words. "Sirius, you _know _about the wolves!" The rest of the group, including Remus, looked curiously between her and Sirius, and Laurel remembered with slight guilt that she had never mentioned Lucie or the wolves to them.

"That was different, Jones! Those were animals, and Remus is _human. _He still has his humanity, you know. He wouldn't do to you what those wolves in bloody France did to you and your friend." Sirius was still outraged but she could see he was also slightly sympathetic.

"I know," she said quietly and turned back to Remus ashamedly. "I'm sorry, Remus. I really don't mind either, okay? And I'll always be your friend, too."

He smiled at her, and she knew she was forgiven. Just like that, the tension melted away and fighting and awkwardness turned to friendship and chatting and just plain old laughter. Laurel felt like everything might have been alright then, if it weren't for Sirius' gaze still fixed on her as if he could not quite trust her.

* * *

The final Hogsmeade weekend happened to fall on Valentine's Day that year, so instead of going with friends, a lot of students opted to go with their boyfriend or girlfriend. Chris and Laurel were among them, saying goodbye to the others at the castle and walking the road to Hogsmeade hand in hand. When they got to the crowded town, they stood in the street and debated where to go.

"Erm, you want to go to Madame Puddifoots? They look pretty well suited for Valentine's Day." Chris asked in a weak voice, looking at the pink café with slight repulsion.

"I'm going to pass on that," Laurel replied, laughing at the look of relief on his face as she dragged him into the Three Broomsticks. "I'll find us a table," she told him, leaving him to get the drinks.

She found an unoccupied booth against one wall and sat down, watching Chris carry over two overflowing Butterbeers. He slid onto the seat opposite her and handed her a drink, and for a while the just sat and talked idly, feeling content to just be within each other's company for the time being.

All too soon, however, an obnoxious voice interrupted them. "Well, look at this!" Sirius exclaimed, dropping into the seat next to Laurel. "And here I was, thinking I'd never get a table."

Laurel seethed with annoyance. "Black, have you forgotten what day it is?" She said with gritted teeth.

He pretended to think hard. "Valentine's Day," he said finally.

"Yes, also known as the day you're not allowed to interrupt two people on a date."

He shot her a wounded look. "Don't be like that, Jones." He waved to people across the bar. "Over here, Jones and Boot don't mind us intruding!" he called.

Lily, Alice, Frank, James, Peter and Remus sidled over nervously, knowing that Laurel and Chris _did _in fact mind them interrupting. James and Frank sat on either side of Chris and Remus sat down next to Laurel so that she was sandwiched between him and Sirius. Alice, Peter and Lily drew up chairs from other tables and gathered around the booth. Laurel shot an uncomfortable looking Chris an apologetic glance, and he shrugged in response.

The conversation flitted between '_are you sure you don't mind us sitting here' _and _'Evans, just go on one date with Potter, the guy's desperate' _and Laurel felt like it might have been an all right day if Sirius hadn't opened his big mouth and ruined things.

"Say, Boot, it was pretty damn nice of you to overlook what happened between me and Jones at Christmas, you know. Otherwise this could be _really _awkward." He chortled, despite the lack of humour in his eyes.

Laurel stiffened and shot him a warning glance. If he saw it – which he probably did – he paid no attention.

Chris looked between him and Laurel uneasily. "What do you mean, Black?"

"She didn't tell you?" he feigned surprise. "I suppose I hadn't really expected her to, but keeping something like that from you…" he shook his head.

"Sirius Black you shut your mouth right now," Laurel hissed at him.

"No, no, Laurel, I want to hear what Black has to say." Chris was looking less confused and more dangerous as he fixed Laurel with a beady glare.

"In that case…" Sirius leaned forward as though he was ready to share some juicy gossip. Which, essentially, he was. "She only bloody hooked up with me under the mistletoe on Christmas day, that's what."

Chris whipped around to stare at her with his eyebrows raised and Laurel could feel herself flaming red. "We hardly _hooked up, _Chris, honestly! It's just, there was mistletoe- It was only friendly!" She told him desperately, knowing that there had been nothing very _friendly _about their kiss.

"It didn't feel friendly to me, Jones," Sirius told her kindly.

She ignored Sirius – though it was extremely hard – and stared at Chris, almost begging him to understand. However, he merely shook his head angrily and got to his feet. What Laurel supposed was meant to be a dramatic exit was ruined by the fact that he had to politely ask Frank to stand up and let him out before he could storm out. As soon as he had left, Laurel rounded on Sirius.

"Sirius, you twat! Why the _Hell_ would you do that?" She yelled at him, aware that she was attracting the attention of the other students in the crowded bar.

"The truth must be told at some point, Jones." He replied coldly and walked calmly away. James shot her a guilty look and followed, Peter tagging along. At last, it was just her, Remus, Lily, Frank, and Alice in the booth.

Laurel laid her head on the table with a _thunk, _feeling her eyes well up ever so slightly. "This has been the worst Valentine's day ever." She muttered miserably.

Lily patted her shoulder slightly. "It could have been worse," she encouraged, then quailed under the look Laurel gave her. "Well, not really." She conceded.

Laurel sighed and raised her head up from the table. "And _that," _she told Lily and Alice sternly, "is why I hate Sirius fucking Black."


	6. To Have Loved and Lost

**Hello! I'm afraid this will be a very short chapter, probably my shortest yet. I only just managed to write it while writing my NaNoWriMo piece (which isn't going too badly, really. It's day 24 and I'm supposed to get to 40,000 before tonight, but I'm on 37,000 and I think I can do it).**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!**

* * *

March was a month of tragedy for many at Hogwarts. It was around then that reports of dead relatives and tortured muggles started arriving in bulk. Alice was among the first to lose family, pulled out of Transfiguration by a sympathetic Madam Pomfrey bearing the news that her only sister had been caught unawares and attacked by Death Eaters. They hadn't seen her again until after dinner, while she was packing a rucksack and waiting to be picked up by her mother. They had offered to accompany her to the funeral but she had declined, saying it would be a small and exclusive gathering for family only.

There were others, too, and Laurel could barely walk down a corridor without seeing the numbed, broken expression of someone in mourning. At one point, she watched Chris Boot wrapping an arm around his sister's shoulder at breakfast as they received a letter reporting the death of their grandfather. She was tempted to go over and say something, but Chris had caught her eye with such coldness she had decided against it.

They were in Potions when everything had fallen apart. Madam Pomfrey came in, her face grim. The whole class shifted uncomfortably in their seats – they were all thinking the same thing: _who's dead?_ She hurried over to Professor Slughorn and whispered something under her breath. He sighed sadly and nodded toward the table that James, Sirius, Lily and Laurel had occupied. They exchanged slightly scared glances.

Madam Pomfrey approached James, who's face drained completely of colour. "Could I speak to you outside please, Mr Potter?"

James fought to stay calm. To anyone else, he may have looked neutral, but Laurel, sitting next to him, could see that his knuckles were gripping the table so hard they turned white. "I'm fine here." He said quietly.

She looked uncomfortable with the whole class' gaze on her. "Mr Potter- please."

He consented finally, rising to his feet and walking slowly to the door as though each stepped pained him. Everyone watched him, and Sirius had a look of deep concern in his eyes. Slughorn tried to catch their attention again, but everyone was instead muttering and speculating on what James was being told out in the corridor.

Before long, the heavy door opened with a bang and James stormed into the class. He sat down next to Sirius and picked up his quill, glaring at the blank parchment in front of him. A few people asked him what was wrong but he shrugged them off. Madam Pomfrey entered the class again, once more conversing with Slughorn in low voices. Slughorn looked at James, frowning, then came over to talk to him.

"Come on, James, you need to go with Madam Pomfrey now." He said reasonably. "I know you've had a bit of a shock, you're very upset…"

James' burning gaze remained fixed on his paper as he ignored the teacher. Laurel's heart ached for him, knowing that the news he had received must have been something terrible.

"Now, don't be like this," Slughorn tried again. "Your mother's waiting for you in the hospital wing, you have to go with her."

James' eyes closed and he shook slightly, though with fury or grief Laurel couldn't tell. When his eyes opened, they flashed with an anger and hurt that she had never imagined she'd see in him. When he spoke, his voice was quiet and furious. "Fuck off."

Someone in the room gasped slightly, but then the dreadful silence returned. Madam Pomfrey, her kind face sad, laid a hand on his back. The movement seemed to trigger him rather than calm him. He leapt to his feet so suddenly that the matron jumped back with surprise. His chair clattered to the ground, but James barely noticed. His arms flew out, knocking the cauldrons off the table and sending them flying across the room. Glass vials smashed as they followed the cauldrons onto the floor. Sirius leaped up and grabbed James, attempting to restrain him, but James shoved him away with such force that he was knocked to the ground.

"Fuck off!" James repeated, this time in a terrible scream. He wiped his face roughly with his sleeve as he fled from the room. Sirius got clumsily to his feet and didn't hesitate before running after him.

Laurel stood with Lily amid the broken glass and spilt potions, feeling completely shell-shocked. James had most likely just lost a family member, and all she had done was stand there in the aftermath of his destruction and watch him fall to pieces.

* * *

They spent every second after the end of the day's classes searching for the two missing Marauders, even skipping dinner, which was something Laurel didn't do lightly. She, Lily, Remus, and Peter eventually split up, figuring they could cover more ground separately.

She finally found Sirius at the top of the Astronomy tower, slumped against a wall, his knees tucked up to his chest. She shivered as she stepped out into the cool night air, and wondered how long Sirius had been sitting out there in the cold for. She approached him cautiously and took a seat next to him, leaning against the wall.

"Where's James?" She asked quietly after an appropriate length of silence.

"He went home with his mother." He said, raising his head to look at her. In the darkness, Laurel could see that his eyes were red and puffy. "It was his dad, by the way. His dad."

She struggled to find the right words to express how sorry she was for not only James but Sirius, who had looked up to Mr Potter as if he were his own father. "I- I'm so sorry. It must be hard on both of you."

"Best man I ever knew," he croaked, and she remembered him saying the same thing to her when they had walked around the lake. "And he was a pureblood too. Not that it makes any difference to me, but it does to the Death Eaters that killed him. He just wanted to stop them from hurting a muggle family. He was just trying to be fair, and they killed him." He let out a humourless laugh. "I'm going to kill every single one of them."

Laurel didn't doubt that he believed what he was saying, that he really did want to kill all the Death Eaters for taking from him the only father he'd ever really known. She hesitantly placed her hand on his, which lay on the cold stone between them. He stared down at their touching skin, and Laurel wondered if she was imagining the fresh tears that began leaking down his face. The expression on his features was curious to her, a mixture of terrible grief, anger, and oddly enough, a wry sort of humour.

"It's funny, isn't it?" He said in a low whisper.

Laurel raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth he found funny at a time like this. "What is?"

"This." He nodded down to her hand, were it rested on his. "When I'm grieving, when I'm in my time of need, you're my friend. But after a respectable and considerate amount of time, you'll go back to slowly hating everything about me." He held up a hand, cutting off her protests. "You know it's true, Jones. You hate me."

"With good reason," she replied, not being able to resist despite Sirius' current state of mind.

"See, the old you is already beginning to show herself again."

They lapsed into stony silence, though she didn't withdraw her hand from his. Whatever he said, she didn't really hate him. She was angry with him, but it was the sort of anger that would fade with time. And maybe she and Sirius would never be the best of friends, but she didn't hate him. Not him, not ever.

"It will get better with time, you know," Laurel told him quietly. "It's clichéd as hell, sure, but it will. All the things that remind you of Mr Potter will be replaced by new memories, maybe better ones. You've just got to let it happen." she looked directly at him. "And I'm not saying that it's wrong to be grieving like you are now, because that's just natural. But sooner or later, you'll learn to move on. Just don't fight it, okay?"

He didn't reply, just tipped his head back to stare at the starry skies. The tears tracks on his cheeks caught the moonlight, and his eyes were still glazed with pain, but Laurel knew she had gotten through to him. She knew what it was like. She had experienced the same suffering first hand.

* * *

As the funeral fell on a Saturday, the remaining Marauders, Lily, and Laurel were granted permission to travel to Godrics Hollow to be there for James. They had considered writing to Alice, who had still not returned to school after her sister's death, but decided it was better not to burden her with another funeral.

They took a portkey from just outside the school gates which dropped them off on James' front doorstep, and Sirius rang the bell. James flung open the door almost immediately, and he and Sirius exchanged a less-than-manly hug.

"It means a lot to me that you guys are here," James said quietly, muffled by Sirius's shoulder.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Prongs," Sirius replied seriously. "You know that."

As he stepped aside and let them indoors, Laurel stopped to give him a quick hug. "You doing okay?" She asked in concern, and James shrugged. Laurel nodded. She knew the feeling. Lily hugged James next, to general surprise. She stepped away, looking rather flushed, and James stared at her in a state of shock. Lily squeezed his hand.

"Don't give the poor guy a heart attack now, Lily," Sirius said, half joking but half looking like he was genuinely concerned that James might collapse. He did look a little weak-kneed.

They walked from the Potter's cottage to the small white church where James' father was to be buried. The day was nice, so it was all held by the graveside. There was already a large crowd there when they arrived, proving just how loved Mr Potter had been. James slipped away from them to join his mother at the very edge of the freshly dug hole, right next to the coffin. An old wizard in dusty robes said a few words over the coffin. A few people walked up to lay flowers on and around it, then it was lowered into the ground.

James' mother collapsed at this point, and James caught her. He held her up as she sobbed into the front of his black robes, his jaw set. Laurel wondered how he hadn't fallen apart yet, like his mother had. As soon as the ceremony concluded and the bystanders began to disperse, Sirius rushed forward and took Mrs Potter into his own arms, freeing James' arms.

Laurel watched as James began to walk off – not towards the cemetery exit but further in among the graves. Lily took a half step forward, as if to go after him, but Remus held her back with a light touch on her arm. The reason became clear to all of them soon enough.

James Potter sank to his knees on the grass, burying his face in his hands. Though Laurel was quite some way away from him, his sounds of misery reached her ears. His shoulders shook as he sobbed for his dead father and his lonely mother, and Laurel watched it all helplessly, wishing she knew how to mend her broken friend.


	7. Under the Influence

**Hey, sorry for another late update! The good news is, I finished NaNo on time! four days early, in fact, which was pretty nice :) Please read and review!**

* * *

Although Laurel had thought it would be impossible, things returned to normal soon enough. At least, they returned to near-normal. James and Alice came back to school and pretended that they were fine long enough that they believed it themselves. Laurel and Sirius did indeed go back to bickering and insulting one another, just like the good old days. Remus faced the full moon with grim determination, the situation made better by the fact that he didn't have to be alone, that his friends had cared enough to do the impossible if only to make sure that he'd be in good company during his transformation. Lily turned down James for what must have been the millionth time since the start of the year, by Laurel's count, and everyone overlooked the way she blushed whenever James complimented her.

In amongst all this normality, the incoming exams startled them a little, despite the fact that Lily, Remus, and all of their teachers had been warning them for a good month that the exams were approaching and to not take them lightly. The realisation that they ought to be studying came over them one sunny Saturday morning in the common room, where Laurel had been versing Alice in a slow moving game of wizard's chess and basking lazily in the warm spring sunlight streaming in through the windows.

The sound of a book hitting the ground heavily startled her out of her sleepy daze and she looked around in alarm, before noticing that Remus had dropped a book by her foot.

"Sorry," Remus said apologetically, picking up the door and adding it to the precarious looking pile beside him. "God, I really don't understand this Arithmancy at _all_."

Laurel waved a vague hand at him. "_Relax, _Remus, you're going to give yourself an aneurysm."

"That kind of weakening in the wall of a blood vessel is hardly ever caused by anger or stress, contrary to popular belief," Remus retorted, sighing as the whole group turned a blank gaze on him. "But that's not the point. Exams are a month away, less, actually, more like three weeks, and-"

"_What?" _James and Sirius exclaimed in unison, sitting straight up, their Exploding Snap cards tumbling off their laps and causing dull explosions on the common room floor.

Lily raised an eyebrow, sighing. "Don't give me that, you guys. We've been trying to tell you for the last month."

Alice groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Does that mean we have to start studying?"

"Yes."

James looked distraught. "But I can't be _bothered._"

"What's new?" Sirius said, nudging his friend. "Come on, Prongs, we don't really have to start studying for another week at least."

"That's no attitude!" Remus protested, looking rather upset.

But, other than Lily, no one backed him up. Honestly, Laurel couldn't really be bothered studying either, and she's rather have another week of freedom before knuckling down and hitting the books.

The teachers didn't seem to agree. Over the next week, Laurel got revision tests for Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Potions, as well as a couple of foot-long essays to write for Herbology. After struggling in the library for a few hours one evening, Laurel forced herself to admit defeat and joined Remus at his table.

"Help me, please," she said, practically begging him.

Remus looked up from the book he was reading with a smirk on his face. "What's this? Laurel Jones, admitting that she needs to study and coming to _me _for help?"

"Shut up, Remus, or I swear to God I will shove this uncompleted essay up your-"

"Alright, alright!" Remus held up his hands as if in surrender, his eyes filled with mirth. "If it makes you feel better, you're not the first one to fold. Alice was being tutored by Frank yesterday, and Peter even _paid _Lily to help her with his Charms homework."

"I don't have to pay you, do I?" Laurel asked nervously.

"I'm going to award you a friends and family discount."

Remus was a good tutor, Laurel soon realised. He was tough, and made her to the work with as little help as possible instead of doing it for her. It took them until midnight, but she managed to get through both essays and half of the Transfiguration revision. Finally, she threw down her quill and leaned back in her chair in satisfaction.

"You are my saviour, Remus Lupin," she murmured, closing her tired eyes.

"I get that surprisingly often," he replied, kicking her lightly under the table. "Don't fall asleep on me now, I'm not carrying you back to your dormitory."

They packed up their work and left the library, shivering in the cold hallways. After a while of walking in silence, Remus spoke up.

"So what's up with you and Sirius?" He asked. Seeing her sidelong glance, he elaborated. "You seem to hate each other at the same time as… not hating each other."

Laurel raised an eyebrow. "I don't _hate _him, we just don't see eye to eye on a few things." She said, feeling that she was putting it mildly.

"And yet you choose to confide in him what you won't reveal to even Lily," he retorted.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that thing about the wolves. When you confronted me about being, you know, what I am," he looked around nervously, "and you said something to Sirius about how he knew about you and wolves, and the rest of us were pretty damn confused."

Laurel frowned at the floor. "We just talked one time, that's all. He told me about his family and I thought I ought to return the whole trust thing." She shook her head. "Whatever. That's not relevant. I said I'm sorry about hesitating when you told us the truth."

"That's not what this is about, Laurel."

"Then what is it about?" She replied, feeling more and more confused by the second.

"I think Sirius likes you," Remus told her, a small smile on his face. "Don't tell him I said that, he'll murder me in my sleep."

Laurel was too preoccupied to think about telling Sirius, she was too busy grappling with the fact that Remus thought _Sirius _liked _her._ "Don't be ridiculous, Remus, you just pointed out before that we seem to hate each other."

"It's called being in denial," Remus replied with a smile, giving the password to the Fat Lady and standing aside to let Laurel enter first. They both clambered in and came to a stop in the common room.

"It's called being _stupid,_" she retorted angrily. "Since when are you so interested in these things anyway?"

"Since my mate snogged you under the mistletoe on Christmas," he said.

Laurel shook her head, making her way towards the stairwell that led to the girls dormitories. As she mounted the first stair, she looked back over her shoulder at her friend. "Honestly, Remus, we've _got _to get you a girlfriend. Then maybe you'd have something better to do with your time."

She ran up the stairs at that, still laughing under her breath at Remus' stupid idea.

* * *

The problem with such an idea, though it might be stupid, is that it sticks with you for a while, bugging you whenever faced by the person of interest. For that reason, Laurel couldn't stop shooting Sirius furtive glances over breakfast, wondering if there was even a slight chance that Remus was right. But what if he _was _right? Sirius didn't date girls, he slept with them.

Laurel doubted Remus more and more as she studied him. He barely looked her way, let alone talked to her. He certainly didn't flirt with her like Chris had before asking her out. So she tuned out his presence whenever they were together, focusing on studying instead. Because, as it turned out, Lily, Remus, and the professors had been correct in saying that they should have started studying long ago. Exams were less than two weeks away and Laurel was falling behind in Herbology.

As she hurried up from the greenhouses after a study group with a bunch of other students needing extra help in the subject, she jumped as a huge black dog bounded towards her. She stared at it nervously, wondering if she was about to be attacked, when suddenly it turned into Sirius Black.

Laurel screamed slightly, leaping back. Sirius stepped forward and clamped his hand over her mouth, cutting off her scream. A few people nearer the school turned back to look at them curiously, and he released her, looking annoyed.

"Way to go, Jones, make the whole castle think I was attacking you." He muttered.

She gaped at him. "I- what- care to explain what the bloody Hell just happened?" She asked furiously. "Since when are you a freaking _dog_?"

"Ah, since fifth year. We started trying in our third year, finally managed to transform two years later," he said casually, beginning to carry on up to the castle.

Laurel hurried after him. "We? James and Peter, I suppose. So… you're all Animagi?"

"Cracked it in one, Jones, how on earth do you _do _that?" Sirius replied sarcastically.

"So you're a dog, and that's why they call you Padfoot? Make sense, I suppose. And James must be some sort of deer or moose, being Prongs," she thought aloud.

"A moose?" He laughed slightly. "James will love that one. He's a stag."

"How manly, I'm sure," Laurel mumbled in reply. "So Peter, Wormtail, is a… worm?"

This time, Sirius burst out into loud laughter, clutching his sides and practically howling. "A- a worm?" he choked out finally.

Laurel frowned. "Well, what is he then?"

"A _rat, _Jones. He's a rat."

She pouted, feeling that it was unfair for him to react that way. How could she have known that? It's not like they'd been exactly _open _about this. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," she said to herself. "How cute, you sound like a group of girl scouts."

That stopped Sirius' laughter, and he looked sour as they entered the Great Hall. "I have a feeling that's not a compliment," he muttered.

"No, it wasn't."

They took their seats at the Gryffindor table, and Lily pushed a plate of Lasagne towards her. Her mouth watering, Laurel took a huge bite, her hunger spiking at the smell.

"Oh, and Jones, one more thing." Sirius said, and Laurel looked up. "We're having a huge party after exams are finished, and I suppose I have to invite you."

Laurel shrugged. "Sure, I'll be there. I've vowed to find Remus a girlfriend," she told him, hearing Remus sigh loudly from Lily's other side. "And maybe I'll find a boyfriend for myself," she added thoughtfully.

She went back to her dinner for a while before she became aware of Sirius' gaze on her. She looked at him uncertainly, unnerved by the curious expression on his face. "What? Do I have food around my mouth?"

Sirius just shook his head, staring down at his own untouched dinner as if determined not to meet her eye. Laurel shrugged, feeling more confused than ever, and the two didn't talk again for the rest of the meal.

* * *

Exam week came upon them all too quickly, and only the promise of letting loose at the Marauder's apparently 'famous' after exams party could get Laurel through them. Herbology was every bit as hard as she's expected, as was Transfiguration, but she'd raced through Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms. Potions went without incident, but her finished draught had been slightly more on the violet side than lilac.

After handing in her very last paper, Laurel dragged herself up to the common room and collapsed next to Alice in front of the fire, feeling worn out.

"We're done," her friend said tiredly, an undercurrent of celebration in her voice. "No more exams!"

"Hooray," Laurel replied, closing her eyes. Her brief moment of peace was interrupted as Lily sat down next to them, biting her nails anxiously and rambling about something she was certain she's gotten wrong in Arithmancy. Laurel and Alice exchanged an exasperated glance but let their friend carry on, knowing that it made her feel better.

Finally, when the common room began to full up, Alice pulled Laurel and Lily to their feet, announcing that the time was nigh to start preparing for the party. This was enough to put some life back into Laurel, who had long since argued that getting ready with your friends was the best part of a party. Soon enough, there were clothes and make-up strewn all over the room.

Sophie and Gemma came in, having finished their Ancient Runes exam, and joined right in, digging through their trunks for the right outfit. In the end, Laurel decided on a strapless, cream coloured dress and black wedges, keeping make-up to a minimum and her hair down and natural. Lily seemed determined _not _to flatter herself, and Laurel and Alice had to force her into a dress and ballet flats. Seeing that her attempts against her friends were futile, she gave in and let Laurel charm her hair until it flowed in waves down her back.

Finally, they all hurried out of the common room and down the hallways. There would be no teachers patrolling the corridors that night, she knew, as it was tradition for someone to throw a party after exams were done, and they figured it was better to let it happen than to have students sneaking out of the grounds to hold it elsewhere. They kept descending the stairs until they reached the dungeons, and Laurel shivered as the air around them got cooler.

"Where is this party anyway?" She asked, feeling goosebumps rise on her bare arms.

"One of the dungeons," Alice told her. "Whoever throws it is in charge of finding a nice room and doing the normal charms on it. You know, soundproofing, extending the interior of the room, decorations."

Laurel nodded and Lily paused outside a door. "I think this is it," she announced. Laurel listened closely, but was unable to make out any sounds. The Marauders must have done a pretty good job.

The second Gemma pulled open the door, it was pretty clear they'd come to the right place. The music was loud and thumping, the crowd thick and the air hot and heavy. Someone shut the door behind them as they stepped inside, and Laurel looked around curiously. She'd never been to a party at Hogwarts before, but it seemed that house rivalries didn't really seem to matter. Sophie and Gemma went off to join Tamara, Mia, and Evelyn, and looking around the room, Laurel could barely tell that there were four houses, not one.

"Ladies!" Someone yelled by their ear, and Alice, Laurel and Lily whipped around to see Frank and James standing there, drinks in hand. "So glad you could make it, Lily," James added to Lily earnestly.

They followed them over to where people were serving drinks at a long table. James shoved a large plastic cup or Firewhiskey at her, and she took a long drink, finally able to celebrate the fact that exams were over and the school year ended in a few days. James laughed when he saw she had drained her drink and filled the cup again. Sirius and Peter came up and joined them, Sirius stumbling slightly as he walked but Peter looking completely sober.

"Where Remus?" Alice asked over the music, and James shrugged.

"I'm not sure where he is, all I know is that we got him hopelessly drunk at the start of the night and he wandered off with some girl," he said, then his eyes fixed on a point behind them. "Look, there he is!"

They all turned to see Remus doing some weird sort of dance, surrounded by Slytherins. Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise, but Laurel wasn't able to hold in the laugh that rose within her, doubling over and spilling some of her drink.

"Bless him," Sirius said rather fondly from beside Laurel as he watched his friend. "I think I prefer this Moony."

The night wore on, time passing by quickly with the help of one-too-many drinks and the heaving crowds around her. After a while, Laurel realised that her feet were hurting and the heat of the room was getting to her so she fought her way through the dancing masses to a largely unoccupied corner where there were a few empty chairs, taking a shoe off and massaging her foot with a sigh of relief.

Sirius flopped down into the seat next to her just as she put her shoe back on. "How do you like the party, Laurel?" He asked, half-yelling, his voice slurred.

"Since when do you call me Laurel?" She replied, surprised to hear that her own voice had that fuzzy edge.

He looked briefly put out. "You're my friend, I can call you what I like!"

Laurel just shrugged and slumped against the wall. The filter between what her brain was saying and what came out of her mouth had disappeared in her current state, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself turning to him and laughing slightly. "You know… Moony says you like me!"

He stiffened slightly as she said that, but Laurel didn't notice, still laughing to herself. "Moony had no right saying that," he said quietly, and suddenly he didn't sound so drunk anymore. Laurel frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You know what?" she said, still staring at him. "Maybe I like you too." Laurel looked serious for another second before breaking out into giggles again. "I really want to kiss you right now, can you believe that?"

Sirius looked uncomfortable. "You're drunk, Laurel."

Laurel nodded vigorously. "Yeah. A little bit." Then, without thinking, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him towards her until their faces were an inch apart.

"I think you need to stop drinking," he said with a nervous laugh, untangling her hands from his shirt put not pulling his face away.

"Sirius?" she whispered, her eyes wide, looking vulnerable in her intoxicated state.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm going to throw up," Laurel replied, and that was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.


End file.
